Newslink January 2022
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain, driving instructors, ADIs, driver training and testing, road safety
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain, driving instructors, ADIs, driver training and testing, road safety
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Area focus<br />
Scotland chair steps down on a high note<br />
as the STS makes a welcome return<br />
Ever wondered how much work goes<br />
into organising an MSA GB event? Alex Buist,<br />
Vice Chair, MSA GB Scotland, outlines the<br />
planning for the recent Scotland Training<br />
Seminar, followed by a full report on the<br />
event itself<br />
The decision to hold a Scottish Training<br />
Seminar (STS) in 2021 was taken at a<br />
Zoom meeting earlier that year, with the<br />
provision that we would plan for a<br />
face-to-face conference but could revert<br />
to Zoom if we were not allowed.<br />
Peter Harvey MBE was tasked to find<br />
us a suitable location and to invite<br />
members of the DVSA along, with<br />
Loveday Ryder and John Sheridan our<br />
first choices.<br />
I was tasked to see if we could get a<br />
police speaker to talk about electric<br />
vehicles, with other suggestions for<br />
speakers made.<br />
After price rises ruled out our usual<br />
venue, the Westerwood Hotel, Peter<br />
spoke to the Castlecary Hotel, not far<br />
from the Westerwood. They could<br />
accommodate us, and Loveday Ryder<br />
and John Sheridan had also agreed in<br />
principle to attend.<br />
I had contacted Chief Superintendent<br />
Louise Blakelock, Road Policing, Police<br />
Scotland to see if we could get a speaker<br />
for the STS, and Peter had managed to<br />
get some sponsors organised. Things<br />
28<br />
were moving nicely towards our first<br />
face-to-face conference for two years,<br />
with the only stumbling block whether<br />
the First Minister would allow it to go<br />
ahead in light of the situation with the<br />
pandemic.<br />
With no official news forthcoming and<br />
the event still some time off, the<br />
committee continued to plan the event,<br />
with raffle prizes purchased, table names<br />
produced and name badges created for<br />
those who would be attending.<br />
Steven Porter and Bryan Phillips made<br />
great in-roads on our Facebook page to<br />
advertise the STS, reminding all about<br />
the event and to book quickly to get the<br />
early bird discount, and we had our first<br />
delegates book on – though slowly at<br />
first. Indeed, such was the pace of<br />
bookings that committee were concerned<br />
that many ADIs were still wary about<br />
Covid and were possibly reluctant to<br />
come to a large meeting of individuals.<br />
However, we had a boost to our<br />
confidence in the summer when the First<br />
Minister relaxed the rules, and we knew<br />
that we could go ahead.<br />
Loveday Ryder, John Sheridan<br />
and Willie Hamilton<br />
By this point I had confirmation that<br />
Chief Inspector Mark Patterson would<br />
attend on behalf of Police Scotland to<br />
talk about electric vehicles, Loveday<br />
Ryder and John Sheridan had also<br />
confirmed, the venue was now firmly in<br />
the schedule and rooms booked for those<br />
who needed an overnight stay. What<br />
could possibly go wrong?<br />
On the week leading up to the<br />
conference I received news that Chief<br />
Inspector Patterson would be unable to<br />
attend due to a family bereavement. At<br />
that point I was a little concerned as to<br />
how we could fill the space with so little<br />
time left. I contacted Chief Superintendent<br />
Blakelock, to first of all pass on the<br />
Scottish Committee’s condolences to her<br />
colleague but wondering if she could<br />
suggest a replacement. She certainly did<br />
not disappoint us because within a day<br />
she said that Constable Keith Sutherland<br />
would be available to deliver the talk. We<br />
were extremely grateful to her for acting<br />
so quickly.<br />
We also managed to obtain another<br />
speaker who has graced our conferences<br />
before, Bob Morton, who also agreed last<br />
minute to attend.<br />
So, it looked as if everything was now<br />
heading in the right direction and we<br />
could looked forward to 20th November<br />
to arrive. Castlecary Hotel prepared the<br />
hall by setting up tables and chairs, and<br />
the committee descended to sort out the<br />
various handouts and other bits and<br />
pieces into bags to be handed to<br />
delegates on arrival. Table names were<br />
put out and the MSA GB Scotland<br />
Secretary Brian Thompson placed the<br />
winning raffle receipts under three<br />
randomly selected chairs.<br />
Jean and Peter had prepared all the<br />
delegate badges and they were placed<br />
ready to be handed out the following day.<br />
The raffle prizes that I had purchased<br />
were also readied for Sunday. Gerry, the<br />
hotel manager, was excellent in assisting<br />
us and getting any equipment that we<br />
required.<br />
Steven Porter’s friend attended to set<br />
up the microphones and speaker system.<br />
He has done this before for us and as<br />
usual did a splendid job.<br />
We now stepped back to look at the<br />
room; everything was in place, and we<br />
NEWSLINK n JANUARY <strong>2022</strong>